Rookies Are Jackasses

So, at the NFL Rookie Symposium, a four day convention to teach rookies how to behave like professionals, two players got into a fist fight. One player was a Buccaneer, and the other player was... a Buccaneer!

The players were Aqib Talib and Cory Boyd. Talib was a first-round pick of the Buccaneers; Boyd was a seventh-round selection of the same team.

The players were in a budget and finances meeting, where rookies from four teams were gathered. Talib and Boyd had been jawing at each other for a while, and it came to a head during that specific session.

Last year's 20th overall pick, Aaron Ross, got a $13.5 million contract from the Giants with $8 million in guarantees. Talib will presumably get a little more than that. Boyd will probably be relegated to the practice squad this year, earning a salary of $76,500 ($4,500 per week for 17 game weeks.) It's not all that surprising that two guys with histories of causing trouble got into a fight during a class about finances when such a huge disparity exists between them.

Instructor: Next we're going to talk about investments and managing large sums of money.
Talib: Hey Boyd, you don't need to be here for this. Go run and get me a Coke.
Boyd: Fuck you.
Talib: Seriously, I'll give you $1,000 right now for a Coke.
Boyd: * punches Talib in genitals *

That's one possible scenario. There are others that involve liberal uses of the "N" word and "bitch", too, but I think you see the point. The fact is that these guys were in a place that is specifically set up to show them how to act right, surrounded by people bombarding them with messages of professionalism and warnings of the consequences of screwing up. And they get into a fight in the middle of one of the classes. That takes a special kind of stupid usually reserved for episodes of COPS. Or Gator fans. Maybe the team should consider keeping an extra cornerback on the roster. Talib may not make it through the whole season.

When he heard about the incident, Jerramy Stevens commented, "A fist fight? Aww, that's cute."